“Deixa a comunidade do Morro Dona Marta (RJ) falar”: a realidade da hegemonia da narrativa externa

Abstract

This study aims, in general terms, to analyze how communication—mediated by digital technologies and traditional media—has been mobilized within the context of tourism in favelas, highlighting the tensions between the production of external narratives and the processes of community self-representation in the Santa Marta favela. It further engages with debates on representation, the aesthetics of the favela, and community-based tourism. The research investigates the historical and symbolic process of the territory’s touristification, critically examining the narratives constructed by external agents, while also mapping existing community communication practices and the use of digital technologies by residents. This work adopts a qualitative approach of an exploratory and descriptive nature, considering that phenomena related to narrative production, participatory communication, social identity, and community-based tourism involve cultural, symbolic, and subjective dimensions that cannot be adequately understood through traditional quantitative methods. It is concluded that technology and digital platforms, when associated with community-based tourism, can function as tools for symbolic democratization. By amplifying visibility, generating economic autonomy, and strengthening representativeness, these mechanisms contribute to shifting historical structures of silencing.